


Indistinguishable From Magic

by pickledfingers



Category: Merlin (TV), Star Trek
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Magic, Magic Revealed, Protective Spock, away mission goes wrong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-05-04 02:51:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5317694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pickledfingers/pseuds/pickledfingers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kirk was expecting a routine mission when he beamed down to the planets surface with Spock, medical officer Martin Emrys, and two security officers. He really should have been prepared for this. When had any of their away missions gone as planned?</p>
<p>In which Martin is a very old medical officer, Spock is desperately trying to keep Kirk alive, and Kirk is confused.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In which Spock loses a bet

Kirk, Spock, a practising member of the medical department, and three security officers beamed down to the planet's surface, as per Spock's request.

Spock had been on something of a 'Let's Keep Kirk Alive' crusade as of late, due to Kirk's astonishing (or perhaps not so astonishing) habit of managing to find dangerous situations on even the most routine of away missions and coming back on the brink of death. There was even a chart in the mess hall which kept track of situations Kirk found himself in, and Spock had discovered a betting pool on what was going to happen next. There had been 2:1 odds on 'kidnapping”, 5:1 odds on “femme fatale”, and 20:1 on “god-like entity”.

Spock had, against all logic, placed a small sum on the rather daunting 50:1 odds of “unharmed”.

Lots of people forgot that the Enterprise was on a scientific mission. She as meant to seek out new worlds and new life (and have sex with them, in Kirk's case). Kirk often found himself in these sorts of situations because they were going where no man had gone before (and boy had they been woefully unprepared for the things they had found), and for some unknown reason, Kirk had to go on the away missions. 

There was no way this planet could go wrong, Spock thought in an uncharacteristic fit of optimism, knowing that he was likely going to be proven wrong. The whole of this planet seemed to be interfering with his telepathic shields, and he he was using up a lot of energy trying to keep whatever it was out. What had gotten through so far felt old , and Spock had felt the Eons through the brush. Something was out there, and it wasn't what Starfleet thought.

Theoretically, the planet was meant to be inhabited with two Terran settlements, and all the Enterprise had to do was see that things were running smoothly. It was rare to see settlements this far out in the alpha quadrant, and Starfleet liked to offer it's assistance where it could.

Spock got out his tricorder and surveyed the planet's surface. It was a grey cloudy place, with little by way of shade. The only vegetation appeared to be patches of a particularly sturdy type of grass which moved worryingly when you got close to it. The nearest settlement was meant to be a short walk, but Spock wasn't picking up any life signs...

Out of the corner of his eye, Spock saw the medical officer flinch.

“You okay, Martin?” Asked Kirk, who had also seen the flinch and was making his way over to the doctor. Spock didn't ask how Kirk knew the doctor's first name – Kirk seemed to have made it his mission to learn every one by name if they were part of his crew.

Martin did not answer, but stared off into the distance with something that wasn't quite fear. Regret, perhaps. Or sadness.

“What's wrong?” Kirk asked again.

“I'm sorry.” Martin whispered. On impulse, Spock loosened his phaser and radioed the ship to check communications were still up. They weren't. Spock fought back a sigh.

“I should have never beamed down.” Martin continued in his horse whisper. “I just wanted to know why the planet felt so old.”

Spock raised an eyebrow. Was the man psi-positive? Humans were meant to be a psi-null species, but Spock was learning that there were an awful lot of exceptions living on the enterprise.

“Doctor,” Spock began, “What is the -”

Whatever he was going to say was stopped by a sudden feeling of pressure in his head. It grew and grew, sinking itself into every crevice of his brain. Spock froze, unable to move. It wasn't painful, it just felt so wrong, as though a very private part of him was being horrifically violated and he could do nothing about it. It felt so dirty. Around him, the rest of the landing party had frozen, staring unseeingly, or clawing at their temples. He couldn't move, couldn't think-

If Spock had been more inclined towards thought, he might had noticed three hooded figures materialize upon the ground in front of them. It wasn't the smooth appearance that beaming was; it resembled an explosion in reverse.

Through the horrified haze of his mind, Spock heard someone speak. “We are seeking one of your company. He is dangerous and powerful, and we would have you give him to us.”

Almost instinctively, Spock moved in front of Kirk before the man offered himself up as Captain.

“What do you want with him?” he choked through his paralysis.

He wouldn't see the faces of the figures, but he fancied that he heard a touch of respect in the woman's tone when she spoke next.

“He let magic die. He must pay for her death.”

Despite his gripping incapacitation, Spock blinked. He'd heard variations of this speech before. They usually wanted Kirk punished for some crime which he hadn't committed but had been framed for or punished for a crime he hadn't committed but bore a startling resemblance to the perpetrator. It had happened seven times now, nine if you counted the crimes which Kirk had committed without realizing it. Spock wasn't feeling inclined to let them have Kirk, but his interest had been piqued. This was definitely a first – he'd never had to deal with this from a Terran settlement before.

“You cannot have him. We require his services aboard our vessel.”

He was learning to ignore the pressure, possibly due to his shields. The rest of the away party wasn't as lucky, with, he noted, the exception of their doctor.

The centre figure took a step forward, the other two falling in behind her.

“If you do not give him up peacefully we will take him by force.”

You're already trying to take him by force, thought Spock. He said nothing, however, instead raising his chin slightly.

The woman in front of him had apparently decided to try reasoning with him. When she next spoke, it was in soothing tones, her arms stretched in front of her, pleading.

“Come now, Mr Spock.” Spock froze yet again, this time at the mention of his name. He hadn't give it, he was certain. “You would not deny us the rightful punishment of the one who allowed our home world to die, would you?”

Spock cocked his eyebrow, bemused.

The woman's voice suddenly chilled. “He has had over two hundred years to come to terms with his crimes. He may be at peace with himself, but our people have been reduced to nothing!” She threw down her hood, revealing a heart-shaped face, with green eyes which blazed with anger. “We were forced off a world which could no longer sustain us, to a planet which is no substitute! We have been stripped of all but the most basic magics.”

Spock was totally, utterly lost. He had been following fine until they had reached “two hundred years.” It occurred to him that they might not be thinking of Kirk, considering his birth was a matter of public record.

The woman raised one hand, and her eyes began to glow gold.

“Give him to us!” Her voice was amplified an echoed strangely inside Spock's head. Spock could feel an odd sort of intrusion against his mental shields, asking, begging him to give their raven-haired sorcerer to them so that justice could be served. He could feel his resolve weakening.

“Bring us -”

The pressure stopped. Spock raised his head, and found that the three humans were frozen, all three staring murder at the landing party.

The landing party stared back, though their looks were ones of confusion.

“Well.” Kirk coughed and righted himself from where he had been sprawled against the dirt. “That was weird.”

The landing party stared at each other, and realized that only one member of their group seemed unaffected by this strange turn of events.

The landing party stared at the young, raven-haired doctor, who was resolutely only looking at the three cloaked figures, his stare hard and cold and golden.

He turned to face the landing party, his eyes fading back to their brilliant blue. His eyes looked fearful of what they might say, but when he spoke to Kirk, there was no trace of it in his voice.

“I apologize, sir. I should have done that ages ago.”

The captain nodded. “A little warning might have been nice.” Kirk paused. Three years of the enterprise’s exploratory mission had set the bar for weird, and this wasn’t even close. At least the doctor wasn’t trying to kill him. He flicked up his comm unit. “Scotty! Six to beam up.”

There was naught but silence on the other end.

“Mr. Scott?”

Martin sighed. “They'll have blocked the comm signal. I could-” he cut himself off.

Kirk looked at him. “Dr. Emrys, if there's something which could help, you'd better tell us now.”

“I could take us instead. It would take less energy that trying to figure out what they used to null the signal.” Sensing Kirk’s hesitance, he ploughed on, “I’m not going to hurt anyone, but it’ll be a lot quicker this way-

Kirk held up a hand. “Dr. Emrys,” he began, trying to decipher just what his medical officer was offering, “Are you saying that you, with no outside help, can take us back to the enterprise?”

Emrys nodded.

Kirk pressed his lips together. He looked at Spock, who nodded. “Dr. Emrys, take us up. And you're explaining everything once we get back to the ship.”

Martin gave a resolute nod, looking strangely pale. He then looked straight forward, his eyes glowing that same sun-fire gold, whispered a few unintelligible words, and there was no sign of them on the planet's surface, save three unmoving figures.


	2. In which Kirk is out of his depth

Sitting in the conference room waiting to be debriefed, Martin swiped a pear off of the plate in front of him. It was replicated, and so it tasted slightly reminiscent of cardboard, but it did the trick of giving his hands something to hold and his mouth something to do. Spock was not-glaring at him (in a way that only a ticked off Vulcan can) from the other side of the table, and Martin was trying not to say anything that he'd regret, at least until the captain arrived. He wasn't going to pretend he didn't know why Spock was unhappy; everyone had heard about Spock's newest safety campaign when it came to the captain, and Martin represented a new variable. Martin was under no illusions that the away trip would have gone far better if he hadn't tagged along.

As it was, Martin was just happy that the crew of the enterprise was so used to weird things happening. He had seen the confusion of the members of the away team, but they had taken it in stride. Kirk especially seemed to be taking this better than expected.

The captain in question walking into the room, somehow making his presence known without making a sound. He sat at the front of the table, and looked at the other five people sitting around it.

“So!” he began jovially. “Mission report!”

Martin fidgeted.

Kirk, never one to mince words or to avoid asking the question on everyone's mind, looked straight at Martin.

“What happened?”

Martin squirmed slightly and then blurted, “Sir, I am so sorry. If I had known this would have effected the mission, I would have told you all so much sooner...”

“Told us what, exactly?” Kirk frowned slightly. “Are you human? As a medical officer you of all people should know the dangers of human medicines given to non-human creatures.”

Martin nearly laughed. “No sir! I'm human as you are. I just have some... gifts. And I haven't lied about anything.” he looked at the table, carefully not looking at Kirk. “Save my name and my age. And some... background information.”

Kirk nodded. Spock was still giving martin his not-glare, and the security officers seemed entertained by this new twist. The crew of the enterprise was too used to weird, Kirk decided. They weren't supposed to treat things like this as if they were a theatre production.

“Do you want to set the record straight, Dr. Emrys?”prodded Kirk when Martin stayed silent

Martin nodded, and straightened. It seemed to Kirk like he became almost more comfortable in his skin now that he had no reason to hide anything.

“My name,” the man began, “Is Merlin. Not martin. I'm a little bit older than I appear.”

One of the security officers took a loud bite out of an apple, and gestured for Martin to continue.

“I was born about twelve hundred years ago. I don't know exactly when – I lost count sometime in the seventeenth century.

There was a spluttered cough from Security’s end of the table as the officer choked on his apple, apparently a little surprised by this piece of news. Kirk couldn't blame him – this was a new weird. Still not in his top ten, but climbing up the ranks. 

“Merlin, as in King Arthur?” Kirk couldn't resist asking.

Mar- Merlin appeared to brighten a little. “Yes! Exactly like in King Arther's legends! Well,” he conceded, “not exactly like. The legends never tell you that he was a right ass when we first met, or that he hated magic. But I cured him of that!” The man's smile was infectious.

Kirk stared at the man, uncertain how to ask his next question tactfully. “Aren't you supposed to be, um” He made a vague non-committal gesture, “dead?”

Merlin shook his head. “magic.” he offered, by way of explanation. “Arthur died, but he was supposed to rise again when he was needed most” Merlin’s smile faltered at the edges, and Kirk wondered how many times Merlin had witnessed a major war unfold and had waited for Arthur to return. “he left me behind, and magic wanted me to wait for him. So I am.”

Kirk nodded. That made sense, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a bad acid trip, or a practical joke. If he hadn't witnessed Mar-Merlin's display down on the planet, Kirk would probably have sent him to the ship’s therapist. 

Kirk really wasn't being paid enough for this. He wasn't being paid at all, but the statement still stood. He decided to ask the big question, and figured he'd solve the mystery of whether this was a shared mental break later.

“Magic?”

Merlin nodded again, brightening once more. “She's beautiful. It's like having music running through your soul.” His eyes flashed molten gold, and a whisps of light spun themselves out of the air, forming themselves into small bipedal figured. Kirk leaned forward, captivated, as they began to dance around the table top. Kirk fancied that the dance looked old-fashioned, like in those period holos he'd seen as a boy, with the actors and actresses trying to pretend they were still in Victorian England. Merlin waved a hand, and the figures dissipated into the air.

“Long ago,” Merlin began, in the voice of one who has wanted to tell this story for far too long, “there were many of us who could use magic. I was born in such an age. But as time progressed, we became more advanced, and she faded from us as we forgot magic in favour of machinery. Why use magic to make a table when you could have a factory churn out twenty? And then the technological revolution happened, and magic was forgotten about. There were still a few users, still those who clung to the old ways, but they were weakening.”

Merlin swallowed. “And then there was war. I remember fighting in the Second World War, and I thought that was bad. This was... this was something new. And she faded from us. There is still magic within the earth, but she has pushed herself so far away that no human will find her completely again.”

“Your magic seems fine.” Kirk commented. “As did the druids on the planet down below”

“Yes, but I was born with an innate connection to magic. I am the strongest warlock in earth's history.” Merlin tilted his chin up, as though daring them to disapprove of him. “I will always find her. But no human born within the last three centuries has mastered more than the most basic.” 

Merlin frowned then, as he processed the next question. He’d been trying to figure it out himself. “The Druids were probably working together to cast spells. It’s the only way they could have done what they needed. Though the planet did seem like it had an old soul to it. Maybe they were as drawn to it as I was because the planet has magic at its core”

Merlin looked at his hands, as if they were the most interesting things he'd seen. “I didn't even know the druids had left earth. It makes sense they'd want to flee, if their magic had so deserted them.” his voice grew quiet. “I know I would. Twelve hundred years – magic is all I have left.”

“So these druids, they blamed you for what happened to the earth?” Kirk was beginning to get the idea that he was very much out of him depth, with no shore in sight. 

Merlin nodded. “It makes sense. Druidic legend paints Emrys as a kind of god – there is no problem he cannot fix, and he will always bring magic back to the land. They forget that I was only that strong so long as I had Arthur.”

At the other end of the table, one of the security officer’s punched the air. “Yes! God-like entity! I knew it wasn’t a stupid bet!”

Spock shut him up with his patented Vulcan not-glare.


End file.
